Adjustment mechanism for microscopes



Feb. 16, 1954 K FRlSCHMANN 2,669,158

ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM FOR MICROSCOPES Filed Aug. 5l, 1950 l 3 INVENTOR.

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Patented Feb. 16, 1954 asaissie ADJSTMEN mam,..assig 0 armani-Miete Appl-itatipniaugusesr, lastig-.sensi ive. laenger lgaiqfggcl. saetta The present invention relates etotarradfjnstment mechanismvrf or .microscope s,andmore particu,vb

la'rly, tovanf :improved i coarse and ne .fon/using?.v

adjustment.mechanism;. Preferably-,this invenr tiOnf; .is s usedl -in connection with 1,.-microsccpes.

which are, focusedebyunoving sthestage;criplat:` g

.the above described-1.., nature., the:- lvstage;is,amountedy on"` ,the stand (by,

ported .on ,a second slide designed for.. coarseadr., y

justment, the second w toaguiderfmeans.. within ,the microscope. stand. This..arrangement. hasr..the.,major, di Sadi/antase.y

that-,thipadandtheforces 'createdtythemete-l: ment of,fthe,object. stage. afiect .the fine. adjust* slidebeing slidably` attached ment. slide frst and ,are transfer-red therefmni` tot. .thecoarse adjustment slide; Consequently the enne .f adjustment'. slide fisv `subv'jestati.ly to the this 'reads' togunsatisractory creatediiduring operation ofafthe'. microscopeufareea;

Itti's alsdarriobjectofthisinvention totproi'zide n a compact andgunitary,.poarse,..and..ne adjustment mechanisni'iomicros'copes;`

It *further object ofhthemvention Itofprowwherein the fine adjustment means is encased within a protective housing.

The above and other objects and advantages are accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing the coarse adjustment slide next to the microscope stage with its guide in the stand and being adapted to sustain the forces exerted in a direction transverse to the direction of movement, and a separately disposed second slide for ne adjustment, said second slide being supported in another guide whichv is also disposed in the stand and is not subjected to any substantial transverse forces. Preferably, the fine adjustment slide is located in the interior of a housing for the coarse adjustment slide whereby the entire arrangement is compact and the iine adjustment means is protected by the housing.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adjustment mechanism comprises a coarse adjustment slide moving in slide guides in the interior of the microscope stand, said slide being .faultless dine ad'justmentiof theistagesisrassured adapted-itotsupportrthexstagfgandibeingrproyidedi withsrarackgand tartine :adjustmenin slide; within separ ate fsli'deiguides ;.saidzslideszbein'g; opera-.isitelyfagy connectedbyzmeansiof \drivin'g:means; suchcas` a c tiregcoarses'adjustment 'slidejzsai drivingine'ans being spportedaibjn the: lneead justrnen'r;:cslidei:E Theeacoars:'adjustmentT slide; Y mycbe.:fprovidedrwitlr. aniiarm aestingisagainstea e load v'equaliaingx.'-spring im tli'esne'. adjustmen, ff'

, 'slideiwhilethe'latten slidesfissupportedsbma tollem:

whichffrests iip'onfran;eeccentriclf'wheelcgformingaz partici thernnes'adjustmentrdriving:anechanis The driving meansfomthef. coarse adjustmentiist. preferablyi, prvidedimitlrsa abrakegadaptedrto -cOunteract the weight of the coarseiaadustmentn slides-'andffthe'.` stage asuppcrted: .therebysf;

Bga'fmeansf-eof: the: above describedzgadjfustmentia mechanism,.ithe aloadtzof "theeadj ustmentefpartsf-f.

themselves and practicallyfall transverse forcesffv.

0.ncreated-:byitheinperatonvotnthe microscopeffaregf divertedefrcimtlreineiadjustmennmeans .pre-pe These-@transverse tloadsfliarei mostly. .absorbed;ll b ther guide:imeans,hof;fthe.;coarsef-tadjustment slide,k andtranserred to: thea-,microscope standzfwhereby due? tocithefprelease@ ci pressures,- ori-. 1;he:t-lne;` adjustment.-slid,es;v` The guideimeans tforatherslid l lmies'malais-1 ompprisegsteelrailsf.ancbballs thee frictionitconditions, eine; a emanuela;

, theimvnton-haszbeerrdesribedzin @een nennen withtthewadiustmeai.,ofte mier-essere' Staeeeitiis. alsa@ adenedf'frrthe .fadiustmntfef t a mcrosegne twhlislfpartieularly-poff-appoggiata tubus'.l Further details of the invention and additional objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which is illustrative but in no way limiting of the invention, and in which:

Fig. 1 shows an elevation, partly in section, of a microscope stage and stand incorporating the adjustment mechanism of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the two adjustment slides, taken along line II--II of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the ne adjustment slide and its operative connection with the coarse adjustment slide.

Referring now to the drawing, Fig. l shows a conventional microscopestage I having adjustably attached thereto an illuminating apparatus 2 comprising, for instance, a condenser and a lamp. The stage and illuminating apparatus are supported by a slide 3 which serves-for the coarse adjustment of the stage and mounted on ball bearings in guide rails 4,1

o ing 6 which is flxedly connected to limb 5 of the microscope. Slide 3 is displacable by means of pinion 1 and rack 8. In the interior of the housing 6 there is a second slide 9 adapted for iine adjustment and slidably mounted on ball bearings in guide rails I0. Fine adjustment slide 9 also serves as support for pinion 1. Roller 24 is attached to slide 9 and rests on eccentric wheel II of the ne adjustment gear I2, I3. Buffer spring I4 and release spring I5 are arranged in" the interior of ne adjustment slide 9 which also has a slot I6 adapted to cooperate with arm I1 of coarse adjustment slide 3 whereby arm I'I rests upon spring I4. Opposite walls of housing 6 are provided with two registering slots I8 through which the axle 20 of pinion 'l protrudes. The axle carries knobs I9. Friction brake 2 I, carried by axle 20, serves as an automatic brake for slide 3. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the friction brake consists, in a manner well known per se, of two friction discs arranged to participate in the rotary movement of axle 20 and being resiliently pressed apart in the direction of the axis of the axle to engage the adjacent wall of housing 6 and the adjacent Wall of slide 9, respectively. The frictional engagement of the discs with the adjacent walls tends to oppose the rotation of the axle as well as the sliding movement of slide 9. Slots I8 also serve to set the extreme limits of movement of ne adjustment slide 9. Microscope limb 5 With the body carried thereby is pivotally supported on base 23 by means of hinge joint 22, in the usual manner.

`The adjustment mechanism of the invention operates as follows:

Actuation of knobs I9 eiects the coarse adjustment of the microscope by moving slide 3 in slide guide rails 4 which carry the slide and, therefore, absorb all forces transverse to the direction of displacement. The weight of the coarse adjustment slide and the other microscope parts carried thereby which is effective in the direction of the sliding movement is transferred by means of pinion l, arm Il and spring I4 to line adjustment slide 9 whereby slide 9 carries only a load in the direction of its own slide guide rails I0. This load is partly balanced by release spring I5 and the rest of the load is transferred by'means of roller 24 to eccentric Wheel II of the ne adjustment gear I2, I3. To eilect iine adjustment of the microscope, wheel II is turned and, in accordance with its eccentricity, the slide 9 is moved up or down along its guide rails I0. Axle 20 of pinion 1, which is supported within slide 9, participates in the movement thereof and, since the automatic brake 2| prevents the actuation of pinion l and rack 8, coarse adjustment slide 3 is displaced in the same direction as ne adjustment slide 9. Continuous contact between roller 24 and wheel I I is maintained 'by the residual load of the moving parts of the objectivewhich is eiective in the direction of guide rails 4, I0 and is only imperfectly balanced by the springs. Brake 2I serves also to prevent touching of the stage and tubus since it works like a friction coupling for the two parts moving against each other. Y

While the vinvention has been described and illustrated with reference to some preferred embodiments, it is to be clearly understood that various modications thereof are within the skill of the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

-What is claimed is:

In a microscope having a stand comprising a chamber with side walls, and a movable stage for holding a specimen: a device for adjustably moving the stage to bring the specimen into focus of the optional system of the microscope, said device comprising a coarse adjustment slide carrying the stage, a ne adjustment slide, means for moving said coarse adjustment slide in the direction of the optical axis of the microscope, said coarse adjustment slide moving means being carried by the fine adjustment slide, means disposed in the stand of the microscope for moving the fine adjustment slide in the direction of the optical axis of the microscope, rst guide means ior the coarse adjustment slide, and second guide means for the line adjustment slide, the two guide means being arranged directly and separately from each other on said side walls and being parallel to each other to assure parallel motion of the slides.

KARL FRISCHMANN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,429,557 Bauer Sept. 19, 1922 2,480,001 Czarnikow Aug. 23, 1949 2,530,352 Gallasch Nov. 14, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 640,723 Great Britain July 26. 1950 

